Ground broken on new $2 million medical building in Norwich

Norwich — Three veteran Norwich physicians hope to move into a new $2 million medical office building in the spring at 105 Wawecus St., next door to an already busy medical center that has no more room for expansion.

About 20 city officials, doctors and construction workers gathered Thursday morning for the groundbreaking ceremony on the cleared dirt area that will house 105 Wawecus LLC, a firm comprising the same four doctors who founded the Wawecus Medical Center at 79 Wawecus St. next door.

The 12,000-square-foot medical building will house Sang Sridhar Digestive Disease Consultants LLC, a practice that will have three physicians and a support staff of about 15 employees.

The building is expected to open in spring.

Dr. You Sung Sang, a partner in the ownership firm, said the gastroenterology practice will take up about half the new building; the rest will be available for rent to other medical offices. The three physicians currently occupy a 6,000-square-foot office at 79 Wawecus St., and was rapidly outgrowing that space, Sang said.

Sang, Dr. Kolala Sridhar and Dr. Tonya Hall will retain their affiliation with the Eastern Connecticut Endoscopy Center next door for patients who need medical procedures.

All three have been practicing medicine in Norwich for a number of years. Sang moved to Norwich in 1995. Five years later, he teamed with Sridhar and Drs. Jeffrey Hertz and David Oakley to build the Wawecus Medical Center. The four are now partners in constructing the new building, he said.

Hall has had two stints in Norwich during her career. She practiced in Norwich for seven years before joining the Department of Health in the Bahamas working as a gastroenterologist in 2010. She recently returned to Norwich and joined Sang and Sridhar in the Wawecus Street office.

Sridhar has been in Norwich for 28 years and also is a partner in building the medical center.

“Certainly in my roller coaster career, this is a high point,” Sridhar said of the new building. “It’s great to be here at the construction of a new medical building that will be designed to meet the needs of patients.”

While the Wawecus Medical Center has no more room for expansion, and the Route 2/32 overpass occupies the opposite side of the new building, Sridhar did not rule out future expansion if warranted.

“There’s a lot of land to the back,” he said, pointing to the woods behind both complexes.